


Home Twice Blown

by Estirose



Category: Power Rangers Ninja Storm, Power Rangers Time Force
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-26
Updated: 2013-07-25
Packaged: 2017-12-21 09:10:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/898509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Estirose/pseuds/Estirose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cam and then the Ninja Storm Rangers get blown back in time. Compilation of the "Home in a Breeze" storyline.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Home in a Breeze

The partners of Nick of Time Odd Jobs were doing the variety of Odd Jobs that kept them in laundry detergent and pizza when the alert came. Actually, the alert came first to Trip, who was doing a repair job on an elderly twentieth century computer a few blocks away. "Trip! I've got a strange temporal reading from Wilkins Plaza."

Trip looked around, wondering if the people whose computer he was fixing would notice that their handyman had slipped out to investigate an anomaly. "What kind of reading?" Trip asked.

"I don't know, Trip," the mechanical owl said regretfully. "It seems to be a temporal wormhole of some kind, like what Time Force uses to travel, but its readings don't match any known time hole readings!"

"Right, I'll be right there." He shut down the connection to his friend and partner and looked at the computer. The ancient program known as Windows 95 would take a while to reinstall, so it could do that while he investigated the reading. Quietly, as quietly as an asian-looking kid with green hair and a geekish outfit could, he left the building. He could always bypass the magnetic security system later anyway. His morpher had no doubt picked up the system they were using and the only thing he needed to do was press his morpher to the door sensor to get back in.

Trip jogged down the few blocks to Wilkins plaza. He could see the Silver Guardians arriving, preparing to cordon off the area, and hoped he wasn't too late to find the phenomenon before the Guardians did. "Circuit, where's that anomaly?"

"Approximately twenty feet to the left of you, Trip."

That meant, most probably, the wormhole was somewhere in the area of the statue, either behind the bushes or in the flower garden. Trip scampered off to his left, hoping to find where the thing was.

But apart from a young human male, not much older than Trip himself, if that, there was nothing there. As he was bringing his morpher up to ask Circuit where the phenomenon was, it cheeped. "Trip! It vanished!"

"Where was it?" he whispered, as the other young man looked about wildly and started dusting himself off. It was as if he'd fallen into the small flower garden, thoroughly smashing most of the decorative flowers there.

"Near you, Trip," Circuit said. "I can't say more."

The young man finished dusting himself off. "Where am I?" he wondered out loud.

Forgetting momentarily Circuit and his employers, temporary or otherwise, Trip rushed over to the only other person in the area. "Are you all right?" he asked.

Straightening his narrow-rimmed glasses in reply, the newcomer looked at Trip suspiciously. "Who are you? Where am I?"

Trip tried to recall his training on concussions, which wasn't coming to him at the moment. "You're in Silver Hills, on Earth. In 2001."

The other young man looked at him. "You must be joking." The other reminded him of a classmate from his home village of Tloss, a serious young man who never seemed to have any fun. "This must be some joke."

"Y-y-you fell through a temporal wormhole," Trip explained, though not without stuttering.

"A wormhole?" the young man said. He started to clean off his glasses. "That would explain things."

But before they could get any further, there was a yell to the side. The Silver Guardians had found them. "Clear out," the Guardian who found them said sharply. "There's an attack in progress here. Civilians need to get out of the area."

Trip let the falsehood slide, knowing that the Guardians were investigating the same thing he had been. "Okay," he said, gathering the young man and pulling him out of the way.

"But..." the young man squeaked. Trip didn't give him a chance to object. He knew the Guardians weren't equipped to deal with whatever had delivered the young man to the flowerbed. "But..."

Once Trip had gotten the other young man out of the Guardians' perimeter, he stopped. "What's your name?"

"Cam." The young man glared. "And that might be my only way back home!"

"No it isn't," Trip pointed out. "The wormhole's closed."

Cam visibly sunk at that. "Great. When father needs me the most...." He stumbled, and Trip caught him, sitting him down on a low-slung ledge. "I've got to get home! I can't leave father with those imbeciles!"

"Breathe," Trip told him gently. "What imbeciles?"

"The idiots that he gave the morphers to. He's there, alone, with them." Cam took a deep breath. "I have to get back!"

*Morphers?* Trip thought, and wondered if he meant another Ranger team. Probably. If so, that meant that Cam had to get back. "We'll get you home," Trip said, with a confidence he didn't feel. "Right now, we've got to get you out of here."

"I don't think I can stand," Cam said. "I don't want to get far from where that wormhole closed."

"Look," Trip said, secretly proud of himself for sounding so calm and collected, "I need to get back to base or I can't find you a way home."

Cam looked up at him with renewed respect. "You're a technical expert?"

Nodding, Trip slung his backpack so it wasn't so uncomfortable. "Yes," he said.

"You're an expert with computers?" Cam asked.

"I am," Trip said.

"Good." Cam's eyes lit up. "Let's go." He got up abruptly. "Well? Lead the way!"

Trip shook his head at the human's obvious eccentricities, and started to lead Cameron to the clock tower. "I forgot! I have to finish fixing this computer!"

Cam shook his head. "We don't have time for this."

"I've got to do this, Cam," Trip said gently. "If I don't, people will get suspicious."

For a moment, he thought Cam was going to go his own way again, but the other nodded reluctantly.

Trip took Cam down the block to get to the building, and easily used his morpher to get in. Cam sniffed at the age of the computer. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because these people hired me to fix their computer," Trip said, knowing Cam was itching to get home, as the humans of this time put it. "It's what we do."

"We?" Cam asked, clearly not seeing the connection. He knelt next to the computer, looking at the display. "What are you doing?"

"Re-loading the system software," Trip said, "And restoring the files from backup."

"I've got a faster way," Cam said impatiently, letting the software reload. As soon as the system reloaded, Cam did a few things, too fast for Trip to comprehend. Before Trip could understand what was happening, Cam had the system back on its feet, reloaded, and working fine. "You're sure you're a technical expert?"

"Not with this century's computers," Trip admitted, knowing the slow, primitive machines were sometimes beyond his comprehension.

"Then with what century's computers?" Cam muttered, finishing his checkover.

"That's a long explanation," Trip said. He heard the door open. "Hide!"

The president of the business came in. "Is it working?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," Trip said. "You shouldn't have any problems with it. If you do, let me know."

"I will," the president said, smiling in a way that indicated that he'd be asking for his money back, and more, if it wasn't. Knowing the computers of the century, Trip guessed that they might well be seeing the man again. "Thank you. Here's your fee." He wrote out a check and gave it to Trip, and trip tucked it away in a pocket. Checks always confused him, but Wes would know what to do.

When the man was out of the room, and safely out of sight, Trip led Cam out of the building. "It won't malfunction," Cam said. "That was a simple backup and restore."

Trip nodded nervously. "Let's get back to the base."

But before they could, Trip's morpher bleeped, and Cam looked boredly at it. Trip reminded himself that he'd just about told Cam he wasn't ordinary as he lifted the morpher up and answered it.

The annoyed, gruff voice of the Quantum Ranger came over the morpher: "This is Eric."

Staring at the morpher, Trip managed an incoherent "What?" and promptly shut up before he dug himself six feet down, as Wes liked to put it.

"Face it," Eric said, "The only reason we're not talking face-to-face right now is because someone didn't realize who you were." Trip could visualize the Silver Guardian who had encountered them standing nearby as his commanding officer talked to Trip. It was not a pleasant visualization. "Believe me, he won't forget again. Now, where are you?"

"About two blocks south," Trip managed, looking at Cam. The other looked like he was ready to bolt. He was tapping his foot, and his expression was clear: get me home or I'll find my own way home. Without you.

Suddenly, Cam grabbed the morpher. "Look, whoever you are. I need to get home, and unless you're personally a heck of a whole lot more competent than the guy who's with me, then bug off. I'm needed where I am and I don't have time to waste."

"And who are you?" Eric asked.

"I'm Cam," Cam said, not without more than a touch of impatience, as if Eric was below him. "And you are?"

"Eric Myers," Eric said sharply. "Commanding officer of the Silver Guardians. And for me, you'll wait."

Cam rolled his eyes slightly. "I don't wait for anyone who isn't going to help me get home."

"You forget: I know where Trip lives, and I can guess where he's going. So I can either pick you up quietly and we can have this talk at HQ, or you can bolt and I can just beat you there."

Cam looked like he was going to cough up a hairball. "I'm going to the shortest route to get me home. If you want to meet us there, fine." He punched a button on Trip's morpher - thankfully, the wrong one.

"Right," Eric said. "If it's going to be that way...." He left the threat unfinished. "Eric out."

Cam scowled at the morpher. "Let's go. He's not going to stop me... stop us." With a further scowl, he dropped Trip's arm. "Have you got money for a taxi?"

Trip shook his head. "I have a bike," he explained.

Cam's scowl became even deeper. "Then *I'll* find us a ride." He tromped up the street in sheer determination. "Well, come on!"

"Wait, Cam!" Trip said. "Maybe... maybe your money's like ours."

Cam got out his billfold and thrust it at Trip. "You look. I wouldn't know."

Trip looked through the money, confirming that it was basically like that of this time, though some with 2003 dates obviously they couldn't use. "This, and this, and this."

His companion looked doubtfully at the bills. "You think that's enough?"

"I hope so," Trip said, not looking forward to getting back to the Clock Tower only to find that Eric had beat them there.

"Good. Can you order us a taxi?" Cam said, striding forward once again.

"If I have a phone," Trip told him.

Cam frowned. "There's one over there. Get us a taxi."

Trip looked at where Cam was pointing. There was a payphone on the other side of the street, at a corner next to a mini-mart. "Okay." He hurried forward, caught up in Cam's mood. He punched in the number for a taxi that Wes had drilled into him, and five minutes later, he and Cam were speeding towards the clock tower.

The taxi took them all the way to the clock tower, and Trip let Cam pay the taxi driver off. As the cab pulled away, a Silver Guardian vehicle pulled into the now vacant spot. Eric got out, looking like the universe had offended him, and took off his trademark sunglasses.

"You must be Cam," Eric said, by way of introduction.

Cam's eyes narrowed. "And you must be Eric Myers, prestigious commander of the Silver Guardians."

"I am." Eric hooked his sunglasses to his uniform. "And you left the scene of a temporal anomaly."

"Look, normally I'd be happy to talk," Cam said, interrupting Eric and Trip, as the latter opened his mouth. "It's just that right now I have a dad who's been turned into a guinea pig, a dark ninja that's bent on taking over the planet, and three idiots that my father gave Ranger powers to because they couldn't show up on time to save their lives, and therefore were the only candidates available to fight the forces of darkness."

"Besides," Trip said, "It was one of your Guardians who told us to leave."

Eric's glare told him that the other Ranger was familiar with that point. "What Dark Ninja?" he asked Cam, ignoring Trip completely.

"Look, I don't have time to argue about this. You want to ask me questions about it, fine. Right now I *must* concentrate on getting home." Cam swept forward into the building that housed Nick of Time Odd Jobs, while Eric muttered into his headset. Trip decided that whatever Eric was going to do would hold, and followed Cam inside.

Once he was inside the doors of his home, Trip relaxed a little, until a voice interrupted him. "Friend of yours?" Wes asked, pointing at Cam, who was leaning against the corner between the maintenance/storage room and the staircase up to the top of the clock tower.

Trip nodded. "This is Cam," he said. "Cam, this is Wes. A... friend. Cam got tossed through a temporal wormhole," Trip explained.

"Oh," Wes said. "That's what Circuit was talking about." He gestured with his head and shoulders towards the door. "Want me to run interference?" The human slang escaped Trip completely, but Cam was nodding.

"Sure," Trip said.

"No problem," Wes said cheerfully.

Trip took the stairs two at a time, Cam keeping up with him, though not effortlessly. "I thought I was in good shape," he moaned. "How do you do this, day after day?"

"Most of the time, I don't run," Trip said, though he knew he was lying a bit when he said so. He ran up the stairs more often than not.

"Oh," Cam said. "I think... when I get home I will see if my dad has some conditioning exercises for me." He had to stop, and Trip managed to stop two stairs above him. "I'm in charge of my dad's computer systems. I designed and ran the systems through the help of some of my dad's colleagues and students. I don't go into town much." He sat down. "Dad never thought I'd make a good ninja, and I agree. That's not my kind of life."

Trip nodded. "Feel better?"

Cam got up. "Come on. Lead me to where your computer is before anyone interrupts us." Trip watched him struggle to get up and rejoin the jog upstairs. He knew that Cam was deliberately not mentioning Eric, though the Silver Guardian commander was obviously not far from Cam's mind.

With that, Cam passed Trip easily, and the race was back on to reach the top of the stairs. As the two caught their breath at the entrance to the top floor of the clock tower, Cam's eyes opened wide as he took it all in. "Do you work here or live here?" he panted.

"Both," Trip offered. He led Cam toward the holoscreen. "The rest of my team's out doing odd jobs," Trip said, "So we'll have this place to ourselves."

"Wes is one of your teammates," Cam observed. "He reminds me somewhat of our Ranger team back home, but a little more serious."

Trip tapped the controls to the holoscreen to make it come alive. "Wes is kinda the heart of the team," Trip told the other. "He wasn't very serious at the beginning, but he learned pretty quickly that we're fighting for something pretty serious here."

Cam nodded. "I guess... I guess ours are waking up to that situation too."

"Circuit," Trip called, letting Cam muse about things. "Could you bring me up the readings from that wormhole?"

"Sure, Trip," Circuit said, flying over to the table next to the holoscreen, startling Cam.

"You're a robot!" Cam said admiringly. He obviously wanted to take Circuit apart, judging from his look.

"I built him," Trip said proudly.

Cam smiled. "So, how are we going to get me back home?" he asked.

The readings from Cam's trip into their time and space flowed up on the holoscreen. Trip scanned through the data rapidly, though it didn't tell him much on the surface. He'd have to do some detailed analysis to discover the origin of the wormhole and how to replicate it to get Cam back. "Cam, what do you remember before you met me?" he asked.

Cam frowned. "I had taken a walk outside, at my dad's request. He thought I needed some fresh air. I was near the portal where the students shift to get back to the outside world when a strong breeze sprang up. It got stronger and stronger... the next thing I knew, I was in the flower bed."

"Shift?" Trip asked, still scanning through the data.

"As far back as I can remember," Cameron said, "There has been a portal between our training school, in the mountains, and the forest outside of Blue Bay, the nearest city. It allows the students to have lives in outside society while still training with my father."

"Like a teleportal," Circuit chimed.

Trip nodded in comprehension. "So... it transports the students several miles?"

"Yes," Cam acknowledged. "It's not technologically based, as far as I can tell." He tapped his fingers on the picnic table top. "Are you thinking that the portal got redirected? It would make sense. But why? And how?"

Trip opened his mouth, but he was interrupted by the thump of boots coming up the stairs. Finally, Eric emerged, taking a quick but thorough look around the clock tower top floor. "I said that we'd talk," he said.

"Not now," Cam said, obviously trying to read the screen. Trip leaned a little bit to allow the other to see it more clearly. "Can't you see I'm trying to get home?"

"You'll get home even faster," Eric said, putting one foot on the picnic bench seat and leaning forward, "if you'll stop running and answer some questions."

Cam looked up at Eric. "Obviously not," he said, and Trip had to wonder how he dealt with the people back home.

"Good." Eric didn't relax his pose. "I wanna know what happened and where you were when I arrived."

Cam gave a precise description, even more precise than he'd given Trip. "I'd just gotten out of the flowerbed when your thug told us to get out of there."

Trip winced; obviously Cam was trying to provoke Eric. He got the sense that normally Cam didn't have problems with authority.

"My 'thug' was perfectly in his rights. As far as he knew, you were in a danger zone," Eric said, in an even tone which meant that Eric was restraining himself. "Anything else you can tell me, or can I leave your charming presence and do my job?"

"Nothing that I can think of," Cam said, just as evenly. "If I think of anything else, obviously Trip can get in touch with you."

"Right," Eric said, turning around to leave. "I'm sure you'll let me know." With that sarcastic comment, he walked towards the stairs and down them, out of sight.

Cam turned to Trip. "You don't have to be afraid of him," he said.

"I'm not," Trip said. "Eric is... Eric." He paused, looking into Cam's eyes, wishing the human could understand. "He hasn't got family, and he doesn't have many friends."

Snorting, Cam said, "I wonder why."

Trip wondered if he could project some of the loneliness he picked up off of Eric, but unfortunately empathic projection wasn't one of his talents. "I know that you're worried about your father," he said, "but there's no need to get irritated at me. Or Eric."

"I'm not...." Cam seemed to pause. "I'm sorry. It's just that... the only ones saving the world right now are my Dad, me, and the three Rangers, and I'm afraid that I'll come back, and evil will have won."

"I know," Trip said. "There's mostly just the five of us here," he said. "But you might have allies where you don't know it. We've got some resources from our own time, and even the Silver Guardians help us out a little."

"Lucky you," Cam said. "The five of us... that's all we have." He folded his arms. "What did you do, before you became a Ranger?"

"I was a member of Time Force, the police of my time," Trip answered. "How about your Rangers?"

Cam shook his head. "A surfer, a skateboarder, and a dirt biker, all of which would probably prefer to be doing those things rather what Dad sets before them."

"Maybe," Trip said, "There are things you aren't seeing in them."

"You sound like my dad," Cam said. He looked down for a minute, and then looked over at Trip again, all business. "Speaking of which... let's get me home." He leaned forward. "What were the exact readings of that wormhole?" He withdrew some kind of pocket computer from somewhere in his vest. "I can compare it to readings I get when someone comes through the portal."

Nodding, Trip brought up those readings. "Some of this conforms with a timehole," he said, "Which makes sense, given that you're at least two years out of your time."

"I figured that out when you sorted my billfold," Cam said ruefully. "It's 2003 for me. Here?"

"2001," Trip answered. "It wasn't much of a timehole."

Cam nodded. "But enough to get me out of the way. I bet this is Lothor's doing. The guy trying to take over the earth."

"Maybe not," Circuit said. "My readings seem to indicate that the disruption came from here!"

"What do you mean, Circuit?" Trip said, looking at his mechanical friend.

"The temporal anomaly originated *here*," Circuit said. "In fact, it looks like it was someone trying to modify the time warper that Ransik used to get here!"

"So, this isn't Lothor," Cam said. "Just... but why me?" he asked.

"Where's the end point of the portal in your place and time?" Trip asked, bringing up a map of southern California.

"I don't know," Cam said, squinting at the map despite his glasses being firmly perched on his nose. "I don't even see Blue Bay... no, here it is. I guess it's called Mariner Bay here." He rubbed his nose. "I probably don't even exist here. The academy doesn't exist here." His eyes brightened. "Our Rangers aren't here! That's good."

Trip wordlessly refocused his map on the city of Mariner Bay.

"Can I have a topographic map overlay?" Cam asked. Trip complied.

After some muttering, he said, "I think it's... here. The Blue Bay side of the portal, that is."

"That's not anywhere near where you landed," Trip said. He looked at the map. What was he missing?

"Maybe..." Cam looked thoughtful. "Do a lot of monster attacks happen there?"

"Not in that area, no," Trip said. "What are you implying?"

"If somehow the boundaries between my place and yours have been weakened, then maybe Lothor's presence, compounded by whatever your villians are doing, caused my portal to temporarily connect to your world!"

"Which would mean when that wind blew you, it was into the portal and into our world!" Trip exclaimed.

"Yes!" Cam pounded the table. He sobered up. "But if something your villains did caused it... I'm not going to get home unless you storm the place."

"Not necessarily," Circuit said cheerfully. "There is one other thing that can generate a time hole. Or reopen one."

"What's that?" Cam asked.

"The TF Eagle!" Trip exclaimed. "It can't really generate one, but if there's one that's open, it can go through it. Maybe if I could modify it...."

"Right," Cam said. "Where is it?"

"That's the problem," Trip said. "The TF Eagle is Eric's."

Cam slumped down. "I'd rather go storm the villian's fortress, thanks."

"It's not so bad," Trip said. "Eric isn't as bad as you think. If I talk to him... maybe he'd be willing to let us do something." He got up. "Cam, you and Circuit see if there's anything else useful you can think of. I'm going to talk to Eric."

Cam nodded sharply. "I'll let you know."

Trip moved off to the balcony over the city. "Eric," he said, effortlessly, making a call to the one Ranger who didn't hang around the Clock Tower.

"What now, Trip?" Eric asked, and Trip didn't need his powers to know obviously in the middle of something. "I'm busy."

"I can get Cam home... with your help." He prayed to the Many that Eric would still help Cam get home, despite how he had acted.

Trip could almost see Eric frowning. "How?"

"I need the TF Eagle," Trip said. "I may need to modify some of its subsystems." *That* was a risky proposition; he knew Eric wouldn't go for it.

"Uh-uh. No way, no how," Eric said.

"Please, Eric?" Trip pleaded.

"Look, Trip, I can understand you want to get him out of your hair, but no way am I going to let you modify my Eagle."

"I might not even need to modify it," Trip said, a burst of inspiration coming on. "I may just need it to be there, to help the wormhole open back up."

"How?" Eric asked.

"If the Eagle is nearby, it may generate enough temporal and dimensional disruption to open the wormhole back up." Trip paused. "I can rig up a device so I don't have to modify the Eagle."

"Good, because if it involves modifying the Eagle, I'm not gonna do it," Eric said.

"Meet me in the park, in an hour and a half," Trip said. "With the Eagle."

Eric sighed. "I'll be there." With that, he signed off.

Trip hopped back into the clock tower, causing Cam to startle as he tried to work on the holoscreen. "Cam! Come on, I'm going downstairs! I have an idea!"

Not allowing Cam time for a reply, he scrambled towards the stairs, his mind intent on his creation. "Circuit!"

"Coming, Trip!"

Trip raced into the workshop at the bottom of the stairs, ignoring Wes and Jen, who were talking to a customer. He caught Wes saying, "And that's our technical expert, and he's off shift right now...."

Hoping the customer didn't open the door, Trip panted a bit and then went to his hidden depository of thirty-first century parts. If his analysis was correct, all the wormhole needed was a little bit of coaxing, which was actually pretty easy, if he had Eric's help.

The door to the workshop slammed a few minutes later. "What?" Cam said, out of breath.

"This is a phase inverter," Trip explained. "Combined with a hypercore phase system, it should nudge your wormhole back into existence."

"But shouldn't the... never mind." Cam said. Trip looked at him, wondering what he was going to say. "I guess my physics minor is not going to cover technology invented a thousand years in the future, so I'm not going to go there."

"You were a physics minor?" Trip asked. Somehow, it didn't surprise him. Cam was surely what the people of this century termed a 'nerd'.

"Yeah," Cam admitted. "Electrical engineering major, physics minor, with a good dollop of computer science in a degree I never really finished. I'm going for my master's in the fall." He smiled a little. "If the Earth's still standing, then, that is. If not, then I'm not going to be alive to worry about it." He sighed. "What's the idea behind this?"

"It's pretty easy," Trip said, explaining in concise terms the idea behind the invention. Cam nodded after he explained the ideas.

"Sounds good to me," Cam said. "How can I help you with this?"

The two of them worked together on the invention, Cam following Trip's lead. When it was finished, Trip put it in a carrying case and handing it to Cam. "Hold on to this. I'll be right back."

He walked out to Wes, who was leaning on the counter. "You figured out anything?" Wes asked casually.

Trip nodded. "Eric's meeting us out in the park with the TF Eagle. Can you... can you take us there?"

Wes smiled. "No problem."

Shortly thereafter, they were in the park. "Okay," Cam said, "Where's the final piece of the puzzle?"

"I'd say... right there," Wes said, pointing up into the sky. With a roar, the TF Eagle set down a neat one hundred feet away and Eric hopped out.

"Okay, I'm here, it's here, what do you need next?" Eric asked.

"Just keep it running," Trip called, setting up his equipment. He nervously crossed his fingers, a movement he'd picked up from Wes, and activated the device.

Nothing happened except for a breeze picking up. And, unfortunately, that was probably natural.

"Somehow, I don't think that this is what you had in mind," Eric observed. But as Trip turned to answer, he noticed Cam moving.

Cam was striding forward, ignoring the three of them. "Cam!" Trip shouted. But Cam seemed only interested in the flowerbed and the statue.

The young man stuck his hand out. "It's here," he assured them. "This is the portal. I know it."

With that, he walked into the flower garden. Nothing seemed to happen for a moment, and then Cam abruptly vanished. The breeze died down, and it seemed like neither it nor Cam had ever existed.

"Wonder if he got home?" Wes wondered out loud.

"I hope he did," Trip said, looking at his invention. It should have sent Cam back home, but... sometimes he never knew.

"Now that he's gone... I have work to do," Eric said to the others. "I'll see you both later." With a nod, he jumped back into the Eagle and flew off.

"Don't worry, Trip," Wes said, "I'm sure he got home." He put his arm around Trip's shoulder."And speaking of which, so do we. I've got dinner detail tonight...."

Trip's stomach rumbled at that. "Okay, let's go." But he looked one more time at the spot where the wormhole had been. Had Cam gotten home?

He doubted he would ever know.


	2. Looking for Cam

"Where is he?" Tori asked. She tucked her long blonde hair back. "I haven't seen him anywhere!"

Dustin looked up. "Who?" he asked.

"Cam! Sensei asked me to look for him, but... if he's outside, he's hiding," Tori said in frustration.

"Maybe this is one of Sensei's training exercises. Probably Cam's working on something and Sensei's having you play hide and go seek for a reason."

"That would be true," Sensei said, flipping up onto the table from parts unknown, "Had I a reason other than Cam being missing. I did not engineer Cam's disappearance."

"He's not outside," Tori said. "I went out as you told me and if he's there, he's not responding to my calls."

"Maybe he wanted some time alone," Shane reasoned. "I mean, he's been more frustrated than usual lately."

"Cam would not have done that, Rangers, unless he told me beforehand. He did not, either verbally or in his posture. I doubt he is not responding to Tori's calls because he wishes to ignore her." Sensei folded his paws. "We must widen the search."

"Wait a minute," Dustin said, "Dudes, you remember the other night when I tried to play games with Cam's computer? It wasn't a game he had up on his system, it was some kind of tracking program."

"Yes," Sensei said. "He uses it to keep track of the three of you through your morphers. He insisted on tracking the two of us as well, in case either of us was kidnapped."

"Great!" Dustin said. "Then we can track *him* as well, see where he's gone." He sat down. "Um... anyone any good at undocumented computer programs?"

"I'll do it," Tori said, sitting down at the main computer where Cam usually sat. She called up the tracking program - named RangerTrack, thanks to Cam's utilitarian naming system, and brought up the tracking screen. Obviously Cam had thought his father might make some use of it, for when it came up, it came up with five colors and a question on which one to replay or track. She could see Shane's red, her light blue, Dustin's yellow, a dark-bluish green, and an olive color. She guessed the olive tracker might be Cam's, and was rewarded with another screen: Current Tracking/Replay History. Carefully, she chose Current Tracking, but the screen only displayed 'unable to track, transponder out of range'.

Backing out, she selected hers, and was able to find her current location within their secret base. Same for Shane's, Dustin's, and Sensei's. She went back to Cam's olive-colored tracker and selected tracker history, time replay. Cam's tracks went all over the place, and then suddenly he went through the portal.

And didn't come out.

"Guys," she said.

"I see it," Shane said. "Somebody took him while he was going to Blue Bay."

"Why'd he go to Blue Bay?" Dustin asked.

"I don't know, but when we find him, we'll ask," Shane said. "Come on, let's go!"

The Red Ranger led the charge upwards and the other two followed him to the location where the portal stood. "So, what do we do now?"

Dustin shrugged. "Maybe we should have picked up one of those tracker things and tossed it through."

"Good idea," Tori said. "I'll get the tracker."

"We'll look for clues," Shane said. With a quick nod, the Blue Ranger was gone.

"I can't believe we're hunting for *Cam*," Dustin muttered. "How come we can't let him work his way out of this?"

"It could be because he knows an awful lot of stuff about our morphers and Sensei's base," Shane pointed out. "Lothor's not stupid. And Cam's not all that great a fighter."

"Right, I knew that," Dustin said quickly. "So, let's find the guy before anything happens."

The two of them searched the surrounding woods, but neither was having much luck. Tori returned with a small boxy thing and a handheld device of some kind. "Here's the tracking device," she said, "and here's a scanner that Cam was using to test the devices. It asks the computer underground where the device is. For example, this one's brown."

The other two Rangers looked at the display. "So, what next?" Dustin asked. If you couldn't ride it, play it, or if it didn't have art, he wasn't interested.

"Next," Tori said, "We toss the device through the portal." She did so. The scanner bleeped. "And... it's across."

"Hope it's waterproof," Dustin muttered.

"It's waterproof, and it's on the Blue Bay side of the portal," Tori said. "So... maybe the tracker just *thought* he was going through the portal."

"Yeah, so where is he?" Dustin asked. "Nobody's been here except us and him. There's no signs of a struggle."

"Well, he didn't just *disappear*," Tori replied. "He has to be around here somewhere."

"Not necessarily," Shane said. "If he was drugged and the tracking device destroyed..."

"Except it wasn't destroyed, and..."

"Tor," Shane said, "look at his path. It's uneven. If that's not a forced removal, I don't know what is."

"Why?" Dustin wanted to know.

"Cam walks at a certain speed," Shane said. "and he doesn't usually zigzag. The last few seconds he was doing both."

The other two fell into silence. "That means Lothor or one of his people has Cam," Dustin said, voicing one of their unvoiced fears.

"We've got to rescue him. Let's talk to Sensei, maybe he has some ide of what Lothor might have done."

As they walked back, Tori said, "I can't believe that Lothor's people grabbed him and none of us noticed, even Sensei. Who knows what they're doing to him?"

"Yeah, Cam might be an arrogant... you know what," Dustin said, after a look from Tori, "but he doesn't deserve to be kidnapped. Nobody does."

"And you heard what Sensei said," Shane added. "Cam knows more about Sensei and our systems than anybody else. If they can break him... we're talking serious security breach problems, guys."

"So, let's get to Sensei and find out how to get Cam back," Dustin said.

As they walked back to the shelter, the scanner in Tori's hand beeped. "What's it reading?" Shane asked, sounding excited.

"That looks like an olive dot to me," Dustin contributed, looking over Tori's sholder.

Though not for long. Tori turned around and started running.

Not to be left behind, the other two followed. All three of them didn't need to be told where they'd find either Cam or the device. Hopefully Cam.

When the trio got there, the portal was still waving, and Cam was dusting himself off. "Cam!" Shane yelled, and Cam looked up. The three of them surrounded Sensei's formerly missing son. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Cam said brusquely. He kept dusting himself off.

"Um... Dudes, are we sure this is really Cam?" Dustin asked reluctantly. "I mean... it could be an evil duplicate, or Lothor could have used some evil magic on him."

"Good point," Shane replied, looking thoughtful. "Anybody got some bandannas? I do?"

Cam stepped away. "I *am* Cam and I'm not booby-trapped. Unless you count you three."

Shane looked at the other two meaningfully and produced a bandana. "Tori, get his feet, Dustin, his arms."

Cam was shortly tackled to the ground, where Tori held his feet while Dustin and Shane tied his arms and hands together. Shane tossed Tori a bandanna and she tied his legs together at the ankles.

With that, the three Rangers got up to look at their work, in the form of an annoyed and struggling Cam. "Dude," Dustin said. "Better get a blindfold and a gag, too." He pulled two more bandannas out of his pocket and cheerfully took care of those two details.

Shane nodded. "Okay, let's get him back. I'll get his legs, Dustin, get his arms. Tori, you support his back."

After some attempts to get moving while carrying the bound and gagged Cam, the three made it up to the shelter. They put him down once again while Tori opened the door and the other two manhandled him in. Once Tori could support his back again, the three slowly made it down to the shelter, Shane providing the required handprint.

"Sensei," Shane called. "I think we found him."

"So I had guessed," said Sensei, indicating Cam's computer, "from the paths that you four had made."

"Of course, we're not sure this dude is him," Dustin said as they put him down on the floor.

Sensei hopped down and put one paw on the young man's forehead. "This is my son, and he is not under any influences. Perhaps you could untie him?"

"Sure thing, Sensei," Dustin said, and the three of them untied Cam, who glared at them and started elaborately dusting himself off again in a show of annoyance.

"I could have told you that I was all right," Cam said.

"Yeah, dude," Shane said, apologetically, "But we had to make sure."

"Do not take offense at their actions," Sensei counseled. "They were merely concerned with your well-being... and mine."

At that, Cam calmed down. "All right, dad," he conceded. "I guess they were." He sat down.

"So, where were you?" Tori said. "You had us all worried!"

"Well, more or less," Dustin added, as Shane shushed him.

Cam seemed to ignore the Yellow Ranger's comment. "I got blown into an alternate universe that was two years in the past. It was actually rather interesting. There was a Ranger team there, and they were actually professionals, and I also got to meet a colleague among the Rangers. I didn't have any problems at all, other than needing some help from that team to get home."

"So, you were never in any danger at all," Tori said.

"I don't think so," Cam responded. "My colleague thought that a combination of Lothor's presence on our Earth and some future technology on theirs caused a weakness in the time/space continuum. So when one of their villains did some work on a time-travel device, it drew me through into their world. Fortunately, their Ranger team's techie found me, and so I was able to get home after a few hours in their world."

"So, we were busting our butts off trying to find you, and you were having *fun*?" Shane asked.

"I wouldn't call it *fun*, but I guess I learned something," Cam said. "But now I'm home, everybody's here, so everything's back to normal."

"Yeah, it is," Dustin said. "You're you usual grouchy stuff, we're here, everything's normal." His stomach growled. "I'm hungry. Anyone for a pizza?"

Laughing, as if nothing had ever happened, the three Ninja students made their ways upwards for a pizza celebration, leaving Sensei and Cam behind.

All was right with the world.


	3. Breeze Twice Blown

It happened suddenly. No, it wasn't night, and it wasn't stormy, but it tossed the six to unfamiliar ground.

"Anyone know the license number of that truck?" Dustin groaned. The Yellow Wind Ranger struggled up from where he had landed, a few feet away from a decorative pagoda.

"No," chorused several voices at ones as some of the others sat up to take stock of their situation.

The first up was Shane, the Wind's Red Ranger and sometime leader. Technically speaking, he was the leader of the whole group, though the non-Winds might dispute that.

"Cam?" asked the third of the Wind Rangers, "You have any idea where we are?" A practical and non-practical question at the same time. Cam was the most technically minded of the whole team, but until recently, hadn't been hanging around the other five a lot. Heck, before he'd started, it had never seemed like he'd left Ops.

"Not really," Cam said. He was the only one in 'civilian' gear, so to speak, dressed in a green polo shirt and black jeans. That put him apart from the rest of the team, black-clad except for flashes of their Ranger colors.

"Okay," Dustin said, "*Anybody* recognize this part of town?"

"I don't," Hunter volunteered. The elder of the two Thunder Rangers, he could have competed for top Ranger spot with Shane... but he didn't. Instead, he was content to keep to himself. Beside him, his adoptive brother and fellow Thunder Ranger, Blake, was trying to reach Sensei.

"Cam," Tori said, bringing Cam's attention to her, "You don't have a GPS or anything like that?"

Cam shook his head. "A good Ninja, or a good Samurai, should be able to figure out where they are without such technical devices." He sounded like he was quoting his father, the Wind Ranger's Sensei, by default Hunter's and Blake's, and to some extent Cam's as well.

"Okay," Shane said, "Let's split up and find out where we are." He paused, looking lost. "Who's who's partner this week?"

Hunter rolled his eyes. "You and Dustin, Tori and Blake, me and Cam."

"Right. Meet you all back in... half an hour or so." With that, Shane left, Dustin trailing behind.

"Right on, Dude!" the others could hear Dustin shout.

"Blake?" Tori said. "It looks like this path might lead out of the park."

Her partner-of-the-week looked appraisingly at it. "I agree." Oblivious to what the others might think, the two of them cautiously took each others' hand and began to scout.

That left Cam and Hunter. "Well?" the taller of the two asked. "You got a plan?"

"No," Cam admitted.

"Good," Hunter said. "Let's go... this way." It was obvious that Hunter thought himself the better-trained of the two, even though Cam had grown up in a school for ninjas and wasn't quite as fragile as Hunter thought.

* * *

Hunter relaxed against the tree. Despite Cam's total lack of technological gadgets, the two had done well in finding the edge of the park. "There's no way this can be 2001," Hunter scoffed. "This has to be some kind of elaborate training simulation. You know how Sensei can block us from remembering that."

"He can," Cam said in response, "But I have a feeling that this isn't a simulation."

"How can you be so sure?" Hunter scoffed. "Ninja masters have *powers*. Its how Lothor convinced us that your father had killed our parents. He clouded our minds so badly that we couldn't see clearly, on several occasions. And you remember what happened *then*."

Cam nodded, clearly remembering the events that had led up to Hunter and Blake joining the Wind Rangers in their fight against Lothor. It was almost anticlimactic when he'd joined the team later on.

"So," Hunter persisted, "How can you be so sure?"

"For one thing, my father doesn't know anything on how to program a simulation," Cam said "For another... I think I've been here before. Not right *here*, but here."

"What do you mean?" Hunter asked, obviously lost.

"Because of something that happened to me before you and Blake appeared on the scene."

Leaning forward, as if interested, and looking very interested, Hunter said, "Something happened to you."

It wasn't meant as a question. Hunter wanted to know, and he wanted to know *now*. Cam sighed. "Right after Tori, Shane, and Dustin became Rangers, but before you and Blake showed up, I fell through a kind of timehole into an alternate universe. I wasn't very happy; as far as I was concerned I'd just left Dad alone with three people who'd probably lose to Lothor within a week. I ran into a guy named Trip, and he figured out how to get me home."

"How?" Hunter asked. "I mean, you were there, and then you got home, but how?"

Cam looked over at him, as if noticing him for the first time. "There's some kind of link between our Earth and theirs. The world I was in had its own Rangers and villians. When one of theirs was trying to do some kind of time travel experiment, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I got pulled in, and their Ranger team had to get me out."

Whatever Hunter was going to ask was drowned out by Dustin's return. "Hey, Dudes! We're in this totally weird universe. The Power Rangers are real!"

"You don't say," was Cam's only comment.

"Man, I can't believe you don't believe me," Dustin said. "They're real! We'd gone to the other side of the park, and there was this monster, just as ugly as any of Lothor's! Then this Ranger team showed up, and they fought the monster... it was like we were in a comic book."

Up behind him, Shane had a silly grin, Dustin's goofiness obviously affecting him.

"Sounds like you two had more luck than we did," Tori said, coming up a third path. At some point, she'd let go of Blake's hand. "We didn't find anything."

"Obviously we're in a different place," Shane offered. "You don't grow an entire Ranger team overnight." His glance swept over the two Thunders and Cam.

"No," Cam agreed. "You don't." The newest member of the team glanced at his morpher, so much more conspicuous than any of the others'.

"So, we're in 2001, and there's a Ranger team," Hunter said, obviously trying to play team moderator. "Anything else?"

Tori raised her eyebrows. "We're in 2001?"

Hunter nodded. "We ran across a newspaper vending machine. The date on the front page of the paper said that we're in 2001."

"How could we be drawn into a universe that's two years behind?" Blake objected.

His older brother gave Cam a nudge. "Ask him."

Shane's mouth opened in an 'O' of understanding. "That would be about the time where you disappeared for two hours?"

"And you hog-tied me and took me back to Dad, yes," Cam said, his nose apparently wrinkling from the memory. At Blake's confused look, he continued, "I fell through a temporary 'temporal wormhole' shortly after Shane, Tori, and Dustin got their morphers. I ended up in 2001. And there was a Ranger team there. I got to spend an hour or two in the past, and I couldn't use half my money because it had dates after 2001."

Hunter looked at him, comprehension dawning. "That's why you looked at all my quarters and wouldn't let me buy the newspaper."

"You don't have any money right now that's from 2001 or before," Cam answered. "In fact, now that we know we're in 2001, we'll have to be very careful."

"Right," Tori said, getting out her wallet and sorting through it. She glanced at her fellow Wind Rangers and the other two began hastily sorting through their wallets.

"So," Hunter said, "You said earlier that when you were here before, that you came in contact with their Ranger team." He was obviously trying to lead, mainly because he didn't have to sort through his money.

"Assuming this is the same dimension I landed in, then yes, I came in contact with their Ranger team. Of course, we might have arrived before I ever met them, or this could be a different world all together."

Various and sundry assorted Rangers nodded at that comment. "So," Shane said, "If this is the same world where you landed last time, how did you get out?"

"With the help of two people," Cam said. He took his glasses off and polished them. "The first was my equivalent on their Ranger team, Trip. The second was a man named Eric Myers." At the last name, Cam grimaced.

"So, where do we find them?" Blake asked.

"I don't know," Cam said. At the rest of the group's disbelieving looks, he added, "I was in so much of a hurry that I never really looked. Trip and I took a taxi to their base, and I had other things on my mind than writing down the address. All I remember is that they ran some kind of Odd Jobs shop in some kind of clocktower."

"And Eric Myers?" Shane asked.

"All I know is that he's the head of the Silver Guardians." Cam shook his head. "And we didn't get along."

"I wonder why," Dustin mumbled.

"So," Tori said, "Why don't we split up? Half of us can look for the Silver Guardians, and half of us can look for the Ranger team."

That seemed to be the most sensible solution possible at the moment. Shane looked at all of them. "Tori, Dustin, you and Blake go and see if you can find the Silver Guardians. The rest of us will try to find the Odd Jobs shop, since Cam has some idea where it is."

His barb didn't precisely go unnoticed. "We'll find it," Cam promised. "And I'll come back with the device that Trip used. Assuming we're in the right universe, of course."

"What happens if we're in the *wrong* universe?" Blake asked, looking to his brother.

"Cam'll get us home," Hunter said, in complete confidence. "Right, Cam?"

"I'm perfect, but I'm not that perfect," Cam muttered.

Ignoring Cam's comment, Hunter gently started steering Cam in the direction of the clock tower, Shane catching on that he was supposed to follow. The rest of the team seemed to catch the hint, too, with the other three Rangers arguing about which way to go.

"Dudes," Dustin said, after a few minutes' walk, "I think we're totally lost here."

"I agree," Blake said. "We have no idea what the Silver Guardians are, much less where to find them." He frowned. "Now I wish Cam had let Hunter buy that newspaper."

Tori shrugged. "All we have to do is act like tourists," she said, "And we'll find out."

As they walked along the street, Blake smiled at his would-be girlfriend. "Dustin can do it."

"Do what, Dude?" Dustin asked.

Blake responded by giving Dustin a gentle shove. "Ask about the Silver Guardians. We'll wait here."

Dustin brightened. "Oh, right dude!" He jogged off across the street to a small park, and Tori and Blake watched him.

"I can't believe you did that," Tori said. Blake took her hand in his own.

"I know that all Dustin needs is a push in the right direction," Blake said. He looked over at their teammate again. "It made him easy to manipulate." His expression shifted as he looked into her eyes. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to...."

"It's okay," Tori said quickly. "I know you didn't mean it."

But she averted her eyes. Blake looked away too, glaring at a car that had parked at the curb, radio blaring. He looked back at Tori, then at the car.

"Dudes!" Dustin ran back to the two of them. "I found about those Silver Guardian guys. And that Eric Myers too. Well, sorta."

"And?" Tori prompted.

"Oh, yeah. They're some kind of private security firm run by some guy who's really rich. They're north of downtown. They're not in the phone book, but I got directions." He handed Tori a piece of paper. "It's, like, a three-mile hike! Hear that?"

Blake looked totally lost. "What?" he asked.

"The radio in the car behind us." Dustin pointed to the car behind him. "It's talking about that monster attack me and Shane saw."

The other two looked at the car as if they'd never seen it in their lives. "...And that was the latest mutant attack. Fortunately, nobody was hurt, but the monster may yet return."

"I find it interesting, Mike, that witness reports say the mutant seemed... disappointed... that he was fighting the Time Force Rangers."

"Right. Maybe this was an escaped demon from Mariner Bay, or maybe an Org from Turtle Cove. Reports are still coming in, so please stay tuned."

"Hey, you think that it's a monster from our world?" Dustin wondered.

"We might not have been the only ones coming through that... whatever it was," Tori said, a mixture of horror and understanding on her face.

Blake was bringing his morpher up and looking around, and the other two almost didn't see him ducking down a convenient alley. But once they did, they joined him. "Blake to Hunter."

"What is it, Bro?" Hunter's voice came clearly over Blake's morpher.

"We've got a problem," Blake said. "We think that one of Lothor's monsters might be stranded here as well."

"Right." Hunter's tone was decisive. "Where are Tori and Dustin?"

"We're here," Tori said.

"Here," Dustin chimed.

"I think somebody better go and keep an eye out for that monster," Hunter said. Even though his tone was one of a command, he didn't immediately come up with any guidance.

"Dustin and I will do it," Shane volunteered. "We'll keep an eye out while the four of you find our way home."

"Right, Dude," Dustin said. "I'll meet you...." He stopped awkwardly.

"Meet you just outside the park," Shane told him.

"Right!" He looked at the other two as Blake lowered his morpher. "Sorry about this. Good luck." And Dustin was off to join Shane in playing city defender.

Blake shook his head. "I'll never understand him."

Tori took his arm. "He takes a little getting used to." She looked down at the paper in her hands. "And meanwhile, we have a Silver Guardian commander to find."

"Think he'll listen to us?" Blake asked. "I mean, we're two strangers off the street!"

"Oh, I'll make him listen," Tori said sweetly. "Come on."

Blake didn't resist... much.

Hunter and Cam watched Shane jog off to join Dustin, then Hunter nudged Cam up the way towards the still-distant clock tower. "I *am* capable of figuring where to go on my own," Cam shot at the taller Hunter.

"I know," Hunter said, looking down a little. "It's just that... I'm worried. If we're here, and Lothor's there...." He gulped. "I know very well what Lothor's capable of."

Cam looked at a storefront window. "I know. The last time I was here... probably here... I was in an absolute panic. All I could think of was getting home. And now? I couldn't tell you if this was the correct universe. I can't tell you if the clock tower we're going to is the right one. I think it is, but I can't be sure."

"It'll be the right universe. We gotta believe that." Hunter placed a hand on Cam's shoulder. "You're right. We can't panic right now. Try to find a way home first, panic later."

"Right," Cam said. He paused before a bus stop with a map. "All we have to do is figure out how to get up to that clock tower."

Hunter pointed to a sign with a blue and white "I" on it. "Maybe... that'll help."

Cam followed Hunter's pointing finger. "Tourist information?" he asked.

"Any port in a storm." Cam forgotten, Hunter began to jog down the street in the direction the sign indicated, oblivious to where Cam was.

Shrugging in frustration, Cam followed him, at a slightly more sedate pace. Hunter was garnering annoyed stares and the occasional mutter about his outfit, while Cam could glide through the people on the sidewalk unnoticed. Possibly because Cam had been fortunate enough to not be wearing his uniform at the time of their 'departure'.

Being the team's sixth had its advantages, to be sure. He slowly made his way to where Hunter had stopped and was chatting up an older woman staffing the tourist information 'booth', actually a small, open storefront.

The woman handed Hunter a bunch of small brochures and a map as Cam caught up to him. "Thank you," Hunter said, turning towards Cam. "Found that clock tower," Hunter said simply. "There's a shop at the bottom called 'Nick of Time Odd Jobs', sound familiar?"

Cam closed his eyes, as if remembering. "I think that's the shop where Trip worked, yes. I'd actually have to see the inside of the shop to make sure, but it was an odd jobs shop." He opened them again and glared at Hunter. "And we're supposed to be partners, remember? We can't get separated from each other, not here."

Hunter walked off, though at a slower pace. "I know." He looked over his shoulder as Cam caught up. "You know it's because of you, right?"

Cam shook his head.

Continuing, Hunter said, "Can't leave you unprotected. I understand that. And it's not like you go and spend time with the rest of the team anyway. So... partners until you learn to play well with others."

"I get along well enough. And Dad knows I can defend myself."

Hunter snorted. "That's why Blake and I were able to catch you so easily at Ninja Ops that time, right?"

"You caught me by surprise," Cam said. He folded his arms. "It won't happen again. And besides, I'm hardly the king of dumb moves."

"And you're saying I am?" Hunter asked. He walked faster, forcing Cam to keep up with him.

"You, Blake, Tori, Dustin, Shane...." Cam shrugged.

"Right." Hunter's face was unreadable. "At least we don't have to have Sensei worry over us all the time." As Cam looked over at him with a still-annoyed expression on his face, he added, "Hey, you're his only child. Not to mention you've got that 'helpless geek' aura. I keep wanting to treat you like a little brother."

"You've got a little brother," Cam pointed out.

"Yeah, but I feel like Blake can handle himself." Hunter dropped back. "As I've said, you've got this 'helpless geek' aura around you."

Cam, looking annoyed, started walking faster, to the point where Hunter had trouble keeping up with him. "Partners!" he called.

Glancing back, Cam slowed down, grudgingly. "Right."

* * *

Dustin met Shane at the entrance to the park. "Dude!" he greeted his teammate. "So, what do we do first?"

"If he's looking for Rangers...." Shane trailed off meaningfully as they walked together into the park.

"Right!" Dustin said, grinning. "We, like, play part investigators and part monster magnets while the other four go and see people. Good job at getting the easy part of the work."

"Did someone say monster magnets?" A voice behind them called.

The two whirled around to see the monster from before laughing.

"Ready, bro?" Shane called.

"Ready." Dustin said, nodding.

"Ninja Storm! Ranger Form!"

* * *

"It's only a three mile walk. We've both done farther and faster in our training." Blake's statement was calm, collected... and, if you heard him closely, slightly tinged with fear.

"Yeah," Tori agreed. "I'm glad...."

"What?" Blake asked softly.

Tori glanced at him. "I'm glad you're here with me."

"Thanks." Blake smiled. "I'm just glad you were able to forgive what's happened between us. I used you so badly... but you were the enemy then. And Hunter razzed me so badly about falling for the enemy."

Tori's lips curved slightly. "That's so Hunter."

"And after...." His expression darkened slightly.

"Yeah. I know." She looked at him. "That wasn't the world's brightest move."

"No," Blake agreed. "We should have waited for backup."

"You should have," Tori agreed. "To have you act so cold, once again...."

She shivered, and Blake drew a protective arm around her. "I'm sorry."

They walked together like that for a while. Their uniforms garnered attention, but neither noticed. They were caught up with each other.

And then, to spoil the moment, Tori's morpher bleeped. The two Rangers looked around cautiously and slipped around an inconspicuous corner, Blake positioning himself to block Tori's conversation from casual view. "This is Tori."

"Hey, Tori," Dustin said cheerfully. "Ooof! Gotten to the Silver Guardians yet?"

"No. But you sound like you're busy." Tori's eyebrows quirked.

"Well, we found that monster. Thought you'd like to know." Dustin was the only one who could sound *happy* getting everything beaten out of him. "There are some cars with sirens coming this way too. Thought you'd like to know that, too."

"Thanks," Tori said. "Want some help?"

"Could use some," Dustin admitted. There was some yelling in the background. "Might as well come. I think those Silver Guardian dudes found *us*."

"Right. Be right there. Tori out." She looked up, nodding at Blake. "We'd better go."

"I want to tell Hunter what's up," Blake said. "He and Cam should know."

"Right," Tori said, trading places with him so that he could talk.

"Blake to Hunter."

"What's up, bro?" There was something rumbling behind him.

"Where are you?" Blake asked.

"Taking the 256 bus up to near that clock tower," Hunter said. "What's up?"

"Shane and Dustin found our monster. The Silver Guardians have shown up, and we're going to join them."

"Right. We'll continue up to the clock tower." There was a rumbling in the background. "Cam says he doesn't think it'll take too long once we get to the clock tower - we should be able to get there and get a ride back."

"Right. I'll see you later, bro. Blake out."

He lowered his wrist. "Looks like there's a hiding spot behind that trash container," he said, pointing at the large construction-heavy container behind them. Tori nodded, and they walked behind it.

"Ninja Storm! Ranger Form!"

"Thunder Storm! Ranger Form!"

Two streaks in two different shades of blue bounced towards the park where it had all started.

* * *

Hunter strapped his morpher back on. He was glad that nobody had looked at it closely and realized it wasn't a cell phone. Beside him, Cam manipulated his own, round morpher aimlessly. No way that he could do the same.

"Only five more blocks," Hunter promised, looking at the maps. "Then we can get off and walk the rest of the way."

"Good. We're attracting attention," Cam said. He watched out the window. "I wish I'd taken time to see this place, but I wasn't precisely thinking that I'd ever be here again."

"Right. And it wasn't as if your guess wasn't right. Those three were pretty naive their first few weeks. I'm surprised that they lasted as much as they did before we joined the team."

"They got better, fast." Cam worked at his morpher some more. "It's what happens when you're in a war."

"You learn to do things you'd never dream of doing. Right." Hunter looked out the window. "It seems so much the same, but it isn't our home."

"No, it's not."

The two Rangers were silent until Hunter reached over and pulled on the cord that would tell the driver to let them off at the next stop. "Only a few blocks," he said, as the driver ground to a halt. "Only a few blocks and you can technospeak as much as you like."

Cam shook his head and followed Hunter off the bus, quietly thanking the bus driver as he got out. "Let's go."

"So, what's this Trip guy like?" Hunter asked. "Is he like you? All sarcastic and a genius?"

"A genius, yes," Cam said. "Like me, no." He looked over at Hunter. "Trip is... pure geek. He cares about fixing things... and people. As far as he's concerned, nothing can't be fixed. Not machines, not relationships, not wormholes. When I was panicking my head off, he was insisting on loading a computer with Windows 98." Cam shuddered. "For an experienced police officer, he's certainly naive."

"So, he's not going to give me lip when we get there?" Hunter asked hopefully.

"No, Hunter. He's not going to do that. I might, however."

Hunter seemed not to hear. "Come on. I think I see the base of the tower!" He picked up his pace, leaving Cam struggling behind him. Finally, the two of them struggled down a driveway leading to the base of the clock tower. Above the doorway at the base of the tower was a sign: "Nick of Time Odd Jobs".

Once again, Hunter pushed ahead. He walked into a small room with a counter. Behind the counter a young man was tinkering with some odd piece of equipment. Black brows contrasted with dyed-green hair, a black bucket hat, an orange jacket and a green shirt. The rest of his outfit wasn't visible, and his face was a picture of complete concentration. There was a glint of green light under his bangs, almost too slight to be real, and he looked up. "Hi, how can I help you?"

Cam chose that moment to arrive, and the desk attendant's attention was immediately drawn towards him. "Cam?" he asked. "You're safe! You... you got home!"

"This would be Trip?" Hunter asked, deeply amused.

"This is Trip. Trip, this is Hunter. He thinks he's my bodyguard." Cam waved vaguely at the taller Ranger. "He's our... fourth Ranger? Fifth?"

Hunter shrugged. "Blake's probably fourth. His heart was with the team already."

"Bodyguard?" Trip asked.

"Apparently, I'm a helpless geek." Cam's tones were strident. "Anyway, I brought my whole Ranger team with me this time. Can you help me get all of us back?"

"Sure," Trip said. "Circuit said there were two wormholes this time - do you know where you landed?"

"There was a decorative pagoda," Hunter volunteered.

"Right. I'll be right back. Could you... could you mind the front desk for a moment?" With that, Trip was tearing up the stairs as if a Kelzak was chasing him.

"Does he do that normally?" Hunter asked.

"Run up the stairs at full speed? Yes. I told you he believes he can fix everything."

The corner of Hunter's mouth quirked up in a small semi-grin. "I think I could like him. Could we take him home with us? Please?"

Cam just rolled his eyes.

A few minutes later, Trip was pounding down the stairs at a slightly more sedate speed, a brunette woman in a pink camisole, short pinkish skirt, and leather jacket behind him. "Come on, let's go into my workshop." As he closed the door between the small room adjoining the counter room, his morpher beeped.

"This is Trip."

"I'm told you have some people I want to talk to," the voice on the other end said dryly. "Again."

"Who says we want to talk to you?" Hunter asked, leaning in before either Cam or Trip could react.

"You must be Hunter," the voice said. "I'm Eric Myers, the commander of the Silver Guardians. Your... friends are all here. Why don't you come join them?"

"'Cause Cam says we need some... device that's here to get home, and I have an overwhelming urge to get home." Hunter crossed his arms, even though the Silver Guardian commander couldn't see him.

"If it makes you feel better, *I* have an overwhelming urge to get you home. So why don't the two of you sit tight, and we'll make sure all of you get home," Eric drawled.

"He will," Trip said, almost forgotten in the conversation. Hunter drove a questioning glance at Cam, with a shrug in Trip's direction. Cam gave a short nod in return.

"If we're all in agreement," Eric said, "I'll send one of my men to pick the three of you up, and get this over as soon as possible. Eric out."

Trip lowered his wrist. "I'd better tell Jen," he said, opening the door. "I'll be right back."

"But...." Hunter said, Trip ignoring him as he walked through the door to talk to the woman manning the counter. "Who's his team leader?" he whispered to Cam.

"I think you're looking at her," Cam said. "At least I got that impression from the way Trip and Wes talked last time."

Hunter nodded.

* * *

"Man, that dude has a serious stick of wood up his-"

"Dustin," Tori hissed in warning.

"Well, he does!" Dustin insisted.

The four Rangers, now demorphed, were sitting on a ledge, swinging their legs as they watched Eric talk over a wrist device.

"He definitely doesn't like Cam," Shane said. "Man, I thought he was going to blow a gasket when Blake mentioned Cam's name."

"He's wasn't like Happy Dude before that, either," Dustin said. "I mean, we blew up the monster for him. Why's he so grumpy?"

"Maybe he's stressed out," Blake said. "I mean, if you're the commander of a private security firm and there are Rangers fighting monsters all the time in your town...."

"Right," Tori said. Blake unconsciously grasped her hand.

"Why take it out on us?" Dustin complained. "I, mean, dude. They have a Ranger team!"

"That's probably why he's stressed out," Blake said.

Eric Myers walked back to them. "I've got in touch with your two... buddies. One of my men is going to pick them up from the clock tower, and then we'll all be able to go home."

"Does that mean that...." As Dustin was about to say something rude, Tori put a hand over his mouth and smiled at Eric.

"Thank you."

Eric nodded and walked away, conferring with several of his men. "Dude! What'd you do that for?" Dustin whined.

"Cam said that we needed his help in order to get home," Tori said. "Remember?"

With that, Dustin slumped. "Oh, yeah. Sorry."

* * *

After Eric had signed off, Hunter turned towards Cam. "Look, I'll keep an eye out for the Silver Guardians. You do... whatever you have to do."

"Right," Cam said. Hunter walked out, and Cam could see him waiting outside the clock tower for their ride. "Trip, do you have the device you used to get me back?"

"Here," Trip said, walking forward and rummaging through a pile of stuff. "I haven't had a chance to do much with it."

Cam found himself sinking to the bench in relief. "Thanks. Your dimension is interesting, but I don't want to stay here."

Trip favored him with a smile. "I understand," he said. He sat down on the bench. "You're a Ranger now."

Cam blinked. "How could you tell?" he asked.

Trip smiled even more widely. "It's your morpher. Look at one long enough, and you can tell no matter what size or shape it is."

"Oh." Cam lifted his morpher up. "Yes, I became a Ranger about a month ago."

"Did you want to be one?" Trip asked.

Cam slowly lowered his wrist until his left hand was resting against the bench. "More than I've wanted anything else."

"I didn't want to be a Ranger," Trip confessed. He looked in the general direction of the door.

"You didn't?" Cam asked. "Why?"

"I was one of the only three that Jen trusted to bring with her," Trip explained. "I like making things better than anything else. But Jen needed me, the timeline needed me... so I came, and became a Ranger. You?"

"I wanted to hold one of the morphers that father gave to his students," Cam said. "But I wasn't a ninja, so I couldn't hold the power, and my dad refused to train me as one because of what he promised to my mom."

"But you do," Trip said.

Cam smiled slightly. "Mother made dad promise that I'd never be trained as a ninja. Fortunately, there are ways other than that of the ninja." He looked down at his morpher again. "I'm a samurai in a team of ninjas. Similar code of honor, but not exactly the same."

"Oh," Trip said. "I'm not that familiar with twenty-first century Earth customs, so...."

"Yeah," Cam said. "It just makes me the odd person out on the team, that's all." He sighed. "Tori and Shane and Dustin... they've been together for years. They're the students I told you about when I first met you. And then we got Hunter and Blake... adopted brothers. And then there's me."

"Is it so bad?" Trip asked.

"It wouldn't be if Dad didn't insist on the buddy system." Cam looked out towards where Hunter, unseen, was standing. "Shane, Tori, and Dustin weren't bad once I got to know them, and when they realized that Lothor wasn't going to go away immediately. And then we got Hunter and Blake. Now me."

Trip nodded. "It took me a while to figure out where I belong on the team, but I know now."

"I'm not sure I do," Cam confessed. He looked at the device. "Hope this works."

Trip just smiled.

At that point, Hunter walked in past Jen. "Hey, our ride's here."

"Showtime," Cam said. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." With that, Hunter headed back through the front door.

Cam got up, following Hunter out, knowing Trip was right behind. There was some kind of SUV coming up the hillside, and it was easy to guess from the sirens and the logo that it was the Silver Guardian vehicle that was sent to bring the two of them back. Three of them, if you counted Trip.

"Hope the others are doing something to irritate them," Hunter said, indicating with his chin the approaching vehicle.

"Like what?" Cam asked, "Blake and Tori making out?" His nose wrinkled at that.

"Hey, Tori could do a whole lot worse than my brother," Hunter said defensively.

"The idea is to not find out how good their pairing is *before* we defeat Lothor," Cam said. "After Lothor is defeated, then the two of them can do whatever they please."

"I'm not saying they would," Hunter pointed out. "I just don't like that guy's attitude."

"Join the club."

"He really isn't that bad, once you get to know him," Trip said. "He's lonely. He needs to have people around him. He's not as bad as you think."

"Really." Hunter turned towards where the car was stopping. "We'll have to see."

* * *

The trip back to the park was fairly uneventful. Hunter sat in the front seat with a Guardian who'd introduced himself as Eschenburg, while Cam watched Trip poke and prod the small device that had gotten him back to his own dimension.

As Eschenburg skillfully parked the SUV, Hunter leaned over the seat. "You two sure this will work?"

"It got me home," Cam said. "It hopefully will get us all home." He adjusted his eyeglasses with his hand.

"Right." That was all that Hunter had time to say before Eschenburg was opening the door. "Show time."

"So, the cavalry has arrived," Eric said as they walked up, hisarms crossed. "About time you two got here."

"He normally like this?" Hunter said softly to Cam.

"He's been more hyper," Cam replied. "Remember, last time I saw him I was busy trying to get home. Until the very end, he was interference. In my way from getting home."

"Right," Hunter said. The bleach-blonde dirt biker looked warily at Eric. "You sure we have to have his help?"

Cam gave Hunter an irritated look. "Yes. We have to have his help.

"Okay, if you want to handle him....." Hunter gave a small shake of his head and walked over to joined his brother, still sitting hand in hand with Tori.

"We're ready to go back anytime," Cam said. "We'll be out of your hair as soon as possible."

"Where did you land?" Trip asked.

Cam looked over at his teammates. "It was near a decorative pagoda, I remember."

"Decorative pagoda?" Trip asked, confused.

"Dudes, I remember where it is," Dustin said. "Hey, follow me!"

The small group of Rangers didn't need much prompting, heading off in the direction. Surprisingly, the Silver Guardians didn't make much move to stop them, not after a small shake of the head from Eric.

"Trip," Eric said, "Go ahead. We'll catch up to you in a minute."

"Oh, right," Trip said. He headed off, walking fast to catch up with the five Rangers heading in seemingly random direction.

Both Eric and Cam were silent for a moment. "Thank you," Cam said, seemingly more interested in a birch tree than looking at Eric."

"For what?" Eric asked.

"For making sure I got home." Cam looked down. "I was so worried about getting home that I was... rude."

"It happens to the best of us." Eric seemed to untense, looking in the direction of the disappearing group of Rangers. "So, that's your Ranger team?"

"More or less." One corner of Cam's mouth quirked up in a grin. "Though we only started out with three. Now there are six of us."

"Six." Eric's eyebrows raised. "So... you're a Ranger too."

Cam held up his morpher for Eric to see. "I got tired of playing technical support. I wanted to be something other than the helpless geek down in Ops."

Eric gave a small nod. "I've learned some things since we last met."

"So have I." Cam looked in his teammates direction. "Can you help me get home?"

Eric nodded again. "Good luck. Join your teammates; I'll be right there."

Cam did as he was told, hurrying to catch up with Trip and the others.

* * *

Dustin and the others reached the pagoda, thanks in part to Dustin's unerring memory of the place where they had started. The five newly-reunited Rangers sat down on the grass. "I wonder how we're going to get home from here?" Tori asked. "Cam didn't fill us in on the details."

"Sure he can fill us in," Shane said, pointing the way they'd came. Trip was striding peacefully towards the group. "Hunter, *that* was the guy Cam wanted to find?"

"Says he is," Hunter answered. "I was surprised, too. I never thought I'd meet someone as geeky as Cam, but Trip beat him. And at least Cam's *somewhat* cynical about the world."

Blake grinned. "You wanna protect him worse than Cam?"

"Yeah." Hunter looked over at the green-haired genius. "Lots worse than Cam."

"Can we take him home with us?" Blake looked at his older brother. "It'll get you off my case, big bro."

Hunter playfully swatted at Blake, but the other Thunder Ranger dodged. As Blake grinned, Trip finally made his way up. "You'll always be my little bro, Blake. Wouldn't trade that in for anything."

"Hi," Tori said, greeting the other Ranger. "You must be Trip. Thanks for getting Cam back that first time."

Trip ducked into his shoulder, almost hiding a shy grin. "Hi. You're welcome."

"You've met Hunter. I'm Tori, Blue Wind. This is Blake, Navy Thunder, Shane, Red Wind, and Dustin, Yellow Wind."

"Pleased to meet you, Dude," Dustin said, slapping Trip on the arm.

"Um... pleased to meet you." Trip put the device on the ground, seemingly unsure how to take Dustin's action. "Cam didn't tell me much about you, just that he had to get home. But... he said that there were only three of you, too."

Tori smiled. "There were," she said. "Me, Dustin, and Shane." She lifted Blake's hand, enmeshed in her own. "We didn't meet Blake and Hunter until a few weeks later."

"Oh," Trip said. He looked uncertain. "Where'd the timehole open?"

"Timehole?" Shane asked. His dark brow furrowed. "What's a timehole?"

Tori punched him in the arm. "Remember when Cam came back? A timehole. A temporal wormhole."

"Oh," Shane said. "We don't know. It was around here somewhere, but...."

Trip nodded, and started setting up his device.

Blake leaned over to Hunter. "Sure we can't adopt him?"

"Not opposed to that," Hunter said. He looked at Trip again. "Think Cam might get jealous, though. This guy could definitely out-geek him any day of the week."

"Speak of the devil," Blake said, as Cam came walking into sight. "Wonder if he put Eric Myers straight?"

"He's got that grin on his face," Hunter said. "I think Cam won the argument."

Cam joined the group, sitting down to the left of Shane. "Eric's got to get some equipment," he told Trip and the others. "He says he'll be right here as soon as he finds a place."

"A place to what?" Shane wanted to know.

Grinning, Cam said, "You'll see."

A few minutes passed as Trip continued adjusting, Cam continued grinning, and various members of the team talked among themselves.

"Dude," Dustin said, "That jet's, like, going to land on us!"

The whole group looked up as a slim fighter-jet style machine swooped down and landed about a hundred feet away, messing Tori's hair up. A Ranger in reds and blacks jumped out of the machine. "I'm here."

"Dude, you didn't mention that Eric dude was a Ranger!" Dustin complained.

"You didn't?" Blake said. "I knew as soon as he started talking into his morpher."

"Oh," Dustin said. "I knew that." A slight reddish blush tinged his cheeks.

Trip got up. "It should be set... assuming of course that it works."

"Right." The tone in Eric's voice was clear. He wanted the six out of there, as soon as possible.

Bending down, Trip tapped on something gently, and a breeze sprang up. Cam smiled. "It's time to go home."

The rest of the group just looked confused, until Cam stepped forward, almost walking into the pagoda... and disappearing before he walked right into the flower bed around it.

Shane and the others looked at each other, then one by one they stepped forward. As they reached the flowerbed, each one disappeared, until none of the Ninja Rangers remained, and only Trip and Eric remained in the area. "I guess they're home," Trip said, looking once again at the invisible portal before tapping his device again.

"Yeah." Eric looked at the pagoda again, for a moment. And then it was over, and he turned towards his jet, the TF Eagle. The Eagle took off a minute or so later, and Trip was left looking. Finally, he turned away, and started trekking towards home.

* * *

"Oof! Get off my leg, dude!" Dustin's complaint was the first thing any of them said. The five Ninja Rangers (and one Samurai) started crawling to their feet. In front of them was the portal back to Blue Bay, behind them the ruined remains of the Wind Ninja Academy.

"We made it," Tori said breathlessly. "We're home."

Blake came to stand beside her, taking her hand in his again and answering her with a smile.

One by one, they got up, and returned to Ninja Ops. They had made it home.

-end


End file.
